A Mother Knows
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day eighty-four: Mrs. Hudson visits Mrs. Fabray to appeal on Quinn's behalf.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a second cycle, and then a third cycle Now here comes cycle 4! :D And tomorrow cycle 5!_

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**"A Mother Knows"  
Mrs. Hudson & Mrs. Fabray**

She couldn't assume to know all about the Fabrays, about their lives and the things that would inform on their lives and the things that would inform on their decisions. And still… she had only truly gotten to know Quinn since she'd moved in with them, since she'd been thrown out of home. But what she knew of the girl… she'd become about as much of a daughter as she could hope for. And as such, she wanted to look out for her.

The best thing she could do for her, with that in mind, was to try and give her what she needed… she needed her family, her true family. She could see it in her eyes, even if she wouldn't say it out loud.

She knew going through Quinn's father wouldn't be the wisest move, not if she wanted to gain any ground. She knew though… at the very least, her mother would want to know how she was doing. She had a fairly good idea the kind of woman Quinn's mother was, and she knew if it had been up to her, Quinn would still be sleeping in her own bed.

So, one afternoon, she'd gotten into her car and driven off to the house. When she rang the doorbell, she wasn't sure what kind of response she would get. The door opened, and the blonde woman on the other side had a courteous smile on her face, but the same hidden sadness in her eyes that her daughter had.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"Mrs. Fabray?" she asked, got a nod. "Carole Hudson, I'm Finn's mother." The woman's expression changed, as though she was attempting to remain hospitable and perhaps manage to hide the concern that flared up as she connected the dots.

"What can I do for you, Mrs. Hudson?"

"Carole," she gave her a nod. "I came here to talk about Quinn." Mrs. Fabray's eyes trembled just half of a second.

"I don't…" she started slowly.

"Please?" Carole spoke evenly. Mrs. Fabray turned her head, looking back inside the house, even though she knew her husband was absent. Finally, she stepped back and opened the door. She gave her hospitable smile once again.

"Come on in."

The two women stepped into the living room. Carole could see Mrs. Fabray had taken a step toward the bar in the corner, but then she stopped herself, turned, and took a seat. She looked over to her guest, who took a seat as well. There were a few minutes of awkward silence before one of them spoke up.

"She's been living with us," Carole nodded slowly. "She's doing good, coming right along…" She watched Mrs. Fabray as she spoke, saw her chin raise as though it would help her maintain the composure she was slowly losing, as she received news of her daughter. Carole felt the urge to move closer to her, but she held back. "I know that it may not be my place to say it, but I care a lot for that girl, and I know you do too, so I'll say it anyway." Mrs. Fabray looked at her. "You should have fought for her." Mrs. Fabray took the blow as contained as she could. "She needed you, still does…"

She'd gotten her foot in the door, reached Judy, not just Mrs. Fabray. It was the words that had done it, the words her daughter had tearfully thrown at her. It still echoed in her mind.

"I knew…" she finally spoke distantly. "I knew what was happening. She tried to hide it, but it was right there… and all I could do was wait out the inevitable." She looked back to Carole, resembling her daughter very much in that instant.

"Sometimes you have to keep trying. You could have gotten around it. You love her, that should matter."

"I wish I knew what it was like in your world," Judy finally gave in to the call of the bar. "But in here, it doesn't work like that." She filled the glass, looked at it for a moment, the liquid swishing about. "So she's okay?"

"Depends on the definition of 'okay.' She's a strong girl, sometimes to a fault," she thought back to her. Though her back was turned, she could tell Judy was too, remembering moments with her daughter. "She misses you… both of you." Judy downed her drink, needing to steady her hand again.

"The baby?" she asked after the silence had hung in the air for a moment.

"She's doing good too," Carole looked back at her. She'd dropped the pronoun in on purpose, knowing the effect it usually had. It made it real, no longer an 'it.' Now it was a baby girl, her own baby girl's… her granddaughter. It may have been a low blow, but she had to try it for Quinn's sake.

It did not go how she believed it would.

"You should go." Carole blinked, as Mrs. Fabray turned back to look at her, chin back up. "Thank you for letting me know how my daughter is, now please…" she put the glass down and moved to guide Carole toward the door. The woman stood, trying not to look as defeated as she felt. As Mrs. Fabray opened the door, Carole pulled out a notepad from her purse and wrote down the number.

"If you ever want to know how she's doing," she held out the sheet. "You can call while she's at school if you don't want to run the risk that she'll pick up," she kept a stern face as Judy took the paper.

After Carole was gone, Judy started to move back toward the living room at first, but instead headed up to her room. She took out the tray in her jewelry box and placed the paper with the Hudsons' phone number inside. After a moment, she sat on the corner of her bed, staring at her reflection.

She remembered when she'd realized Quinn… her sweet angel… had gone and gotten pregnant. For one brief moment, she had gone into mom mode. She had actually thought of leaving, with Quinn, to start over and just take care of her.

And then wife mode had taken over, and all her fledgling plans had gone out the window.

Carole Hudson's visit had still gotten to her. It had reinforced the troubling fact that her daughter was stronger than her. Maybe it was just as well.

THE END


End file.
